Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
Animation of the biosphere obtained from the ocean color sensor SeaWiFS
Siphonophores - The longest animals on the planet
Cousins of corals, siphonophores are colonies of specialized individuals called zoids. Some catch and digest their prey, others swim, or lay eggs or sperm.
Diatoms - Life in glass houses
Champions of photosynthesis, these unicellular organisms appeared at the time of dinosaurs.They produce a quarter of the oxygen we breathe.
Underwater glider (Photo : David Luquet)
Profiling float (Photo : David Luquet)
Gelatinous plankton salpes and Beroe (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Ptéropodes - Mollusques qui nagent
Les papillons des mers construisent de fragiles coquilles. Résisteront-elles à l’acidification des océans?
Radiolarians (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Tunicata Pyrosoma (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Deployment of a profiling float (Photo : Jean-Jacques Pangrazi)
Plankton
Plankton are a multitude of living organisms adrift in the currents.Our food, our fuel, and the air we breathe originate in plankton.
Acantharia (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
Phytoplankton bloom observed in the Barents Sea (North of Norway) in August 2010 by the ocean color sensor MODIS onboard NASA satellite Aqua. Changes in ocean color result from modifications in the phytoplankton composition and concentration. The green colors are likely associated with the presence of diatoms. The shades of light blue result from the occurrence of coccolithophores, phytoplankton organisms that strongly reflect light due to their chalky shells - Source : NASA's Earth Observatory (http:/earthobservatory.nasa.gov)
Instrumented buoy (Photo : David Luquet)
Underwater glider (Photo : David Luquet)
Rosette used to collect seawater samples during a scientific cruise in the South Pacific Ocean. During the austral summer, the amount of chlorophyll a is so low that the water becomes deep blue, almost purple. (Photo : Joséphine Ras)
Siphonophores Forskalia formosa (Photo : Fabien Lombard)
